I think the judging at Challenge was very very very very generous. Alyssa had flaw after flaw. If Ashley wins gold at world's, Agnes could get 11 or 12th and the US is back where it used to be 3 ladies. I don't think Alyssa will drop out though - like RAchel - it's hard to give up a chance to skate at world's and she doesn't have a lot to lose unlike Mchelle Kwan at the 2006 Olympics where her reputation was at stake as she had won so much. It's possible; she beat Mao and everyone so all she has to do (Ashley) is beat Carolina and she should be able to hold off the rest of Europe - "all" is the key though.

But I do think this: Czisny can mess up maybe 3 of those jumps and still hang on to a top 10 finish. Zawadzki, OTOH, has NO ROOM for error at all and may not get in even if she hits... We know how shaky she is in those freeskates...4CC must be the first time I've seen her simply stay vertical in the FS and the scores (still) didn't knock anyone out.

[Czisny] has to be injured and in pain. Then add her nerves. I bet we see a pullout.

I wouldn't draw that conclusion so quickly...this is Czisny we're talking about here. She is perfectly capable of laying eggs without an excuse as convenient as injury.

Then again, I would not be surprised if she was indeed re-injured from either the trip, training, etc. I'm still not convinced it was the right decision for her to do this competition in the first place, unless she was going to stay in Europe until Worlds.